Marks & Spencer and Tesco were among the Christmas winners, with strong trading over the festive period.

M&S said like-for-like sales across its UK and Ireland estate were up by 6.4% as more consumers turned to the chain to buy their festive gifts. Sales of new Christmas products were up by 14%.

Tesco said it had “delivered its biggest ever Christmas” as sales grew by 3.1%.

M%S food was again the big success story, up by 8.9% on a same store basis. It was the top performing store-based grocery retailer in volume and value over the period.

New and renewal stores exceeded expectations. Initial supply chain investment supported improved availability.

Clothing, Home & Beauty sales increased 1%, with LFL sales up 1.9%, ahead of the market in challenging conditions.

International sales were down 2.8%, largely driven by continued challenging market conditions in India and the phasing of franchise shipments. “Reset actions are underway and we remain confident in the growth opportunity over the medium term,” said the company.

“As we enter the new year, the outlook for economic growth, inflation and interest rates is uncertain and the business faces higher costs from well-documented increases in taxation.

“However there remain substantial opportunities and we are focused on what is within our control, as we reshape M&S for growth. Therefore, as indicated at the half year results in November, we are confident of making further progress in the remainder of the year.”

Stuart Machin, chief executive said: “This was another good Christmas for M&S, building on a strong performance in the prior year.

“Sales records were broken across the business, with Food recording its biggest day and Clothing, Home & Beauty online its biggest week, but we’re not complacent – as a growth business it’s our job to break records.

“Core category sales grew strongly as more customers ticked off their whole shopping list at M&S. There were a few growing pains as we delivered our biggest ever volumes, particularly in smaller stores, reaffirming the opportunity to accelerate transformation of the Food supply chain and go even faster on store renewal and rotation.”

In Clothing, Home & Beauty the company grew sales and took market share in a declining market, with womenswear and menswear performing well. M&S partywear sales were up on last year but it was denim and knitwear that outperformed.

Although Home & Beauty grew, the development of these categories is nascent, and they remain “areas of opportunity”.

Online grew strongly and new and renewed stores continued to outperform expectations, but store sales overall were down 1.5% in part due to weather.

Tesco rises

Tesco sales were up 3.1% over the 19 weeks to 4 January. Food sales rose 4.7%, primarily driven by volume growth across the period, with a particularly strong contribution from fresh food; non-food sales (exc. toys) were up 4%, with growth in both home and clothing. Sale of its Finest range were 15.5% higher.

Ken Murphy, chief executive, said: “We delivered our biggest ever Christmas, with continued market share growth and switching gains.

“Our strong performance reflects the investments we have made, positioning Tesco as the UK’s cheapest full-line grocer for over two years, improving quality across all our ranges, with more than half of this year’s Christmas range new or improved.”

The company said it expects to deliver retail adjusted operating profit for the 2024/25 financial year of around £2.9bn, in line with the upgraded guidance at the interim results.

“In addition, we continue to expect retail free cash flow within our medium-term guidance range of £1.4bn-£1.8bn and adjusted operating profit contribution from the retained Tesco Bank business of around £120m.”